If You Are Only Writing on Medium to Make Money: You Shouldn’t Be Here
Medium is not a get-rich-quick-scheme and our career is worth more than money
Since the pandemic began, we have all noticed the influx of new writers who have joined our platform.
It’s awesome to see people taking the plunge and starting their writing career. After all, we have all been “newbies” on Medium at one time.
I’ve been on this platform since last year and I’m still learning new things every day, even after writing 100 articles on Medium, I am new to Medium.
I love seeing people digging their heels in, ready to engage, and network. I love seeing people writing great content and excelling.
What I don’t love is the small population of writers who think Medium is a “get-rich-quick-scheme”.
They are throwing tag bombs around, tagging many people in a post to increase readers (thanks to Kristi Keller for giving this “marketing strategy” a name and making me laugh yesterday). They are dropping links under more prominent writers' posts on Facebook groups.
Riding other people’s coat-tails is not the way to get noticed here.
Recently, I witnessed a new writer make a post on a private Facebook group and ask what people didn’t like about Medium, he never mentioned that he was going to use their answers for an article. He proceeded to write an article dissing our employer called “Why Medium Sucks”, quote the posts, and tag the people who answered his question in the article.
When he was confronted with this invasion of privacy, he refused to remove the other writers' quotes when they asked him to, stating he was giving them “free promotion” when he had less than 100 followers on Medium.
I couldn’t believe someone could be so entitled.
Money: The Root of Inappropriate Behavior on Medium
Why are people behaving like this? Money. As we all know, the “chingle-chingle“ can make people do crazy things. I have always been someone who worked hard for my money and Medium is no exception.
For many of us, Medium isn’t about the money. It empowers us, gives us an outlet, and allows us to live our dreams of being a content writer. The money we make is a pleasant bonus.
There are people on this platform that make pennies monthly and still write.
There are people who work backbreaking full-time jobs and still write on this platform. They do this because they love to write.
These are the people we need on Medium.
This is what we don’t need on Medium:
- People who use others for reads and claps by “tag bombing” and link dropping.
- The people who comment on Facebook posts: “I read this and it’s great, please clap and read my article”. BY THE WAY, WE CAN TELL YOU COPIED AND PASTED THAT RESPONSE AND DIDN’T READ OUR ARTICLES AT ALL!
- The people who write shitty content for two weeks and then claim Medium is corrupt because they aren’t getting curated.
- The people who do something that annoys another writer (like a tag bomb) and then argue with a veteran when they are called out on it. Don’t argue with the master when you’re a student.
I try to feel compassion for people who are desperate to make money on here. I feel for anyone who is financially struggling, times are tough, man. However, this is not the way to “make it” on Medium.
If you alienate people, they aren’t going to read your content. You have made a name for yourself, but not in a good way.
I think the reason why many Medium veterans are so annoyed with this behavior is because the “old school” writers on here didn’t have the privileges we had.
They had to go on Medium, constantly engage, and read to build a solid following. This is lots of fun, I do it every day but you would have to do a lot of hustling to build a solid following “back in the day”.
They didn’t have the luxury of several Facebook groups to market on.
The entitled attitude of “I’ve been writing every day for a month and I am not a millionaire yet” is ridiculous and insulting.
One of the best writers I know has never been curated and this person writes the most beautiful words I’ve ever read. They have never complained about this once. This is because they love to write and have other sources of income. Period.
Go get a full-time job at Burger King or sell Scentsy if you want to make quick money, because, baby, I can tell you this isn’t quick money by any means.
I wrote, edited, and networked every day for five months with a toddler hanging off my arm and reached many milestones but the money took a while to come and it is still a work in progress.
I wrote through the fog of Postpartum OCD and Fibromyalgia while being an army wife and worked damn hard to get to 1000 followers. (I know, I sound like a grampa: “I walked to school in 3 feet of snow!”)
I wasn’t expecting any followers or money when I started writing on Medium. I was just happy to be a writer on a great platform that has publications like “Better Marketing” with copy editing, so professional!
Obviously money is awesome: We need it to live but writing is an art and that comes first.
Writing Should Be Something We Do Because We Love It
This is not a rant on new writers only. This article goes out to anyone who is only here for the money. It’s also an ode to the people who worked damn hard to get where they are right now.
Although, I think anyone who is here for the money will only be on Medium for a short time and will give up once they realize this isn’t their cash cow.
Truthfully, I don’t know why I wrote this, “they” probably won’t read it anyways.
After all, the people who use Medium to advance themselves financially only write their “articles”, drop their links, and never read anyone else’s content.
If you have done these things and are reading this, take heart. You can turn things around by becoming passionate about writing.
It’s simple, read other writers’ work because you want to learn from the best, not so they will read your content.
If a longtime writer corrects your work or your behavior, this is a gift. Accept it with an open heart and learn from it.
Learn to love words, punctuation, and sentence structure. Pick the picture for your article as if it is your calling card. Other writers will notice your passion and respect you for it.
Fall in love with writing.
After all, if you don’t love what you do, what’s the point?
Amy Cottreau is a freelance writer who hails from a small city in Atlantic Canada. She enjoys interacting with fellow writers, dreaming of ideas for her next article, and researching a myriad of topics
